


The Origin of the Jedi Recruitment of Young Children.

by WingletBlackbird



Series: Jedi History, Organisation, and Culture [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Jedi Younglings - Freeform, Meta, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 08:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17742482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingletBlackbird/pseuds/WingletBlackbird
Summary: A look at the history and mindset that might have lead to the Jedi insisting on taking children to the Temple so young.





	The Origin of the Jedi Recruitment of Young Children.

I think the reason Jedi started training kids young began way back in the Sith Wars to prevent the Sith from getting their hands on the "younglings," (often stealing them), and indoctrinating them. (This is probably where the Jedi are kidnappers idea comes from.) After the wars were over, the Jedi kept doing it a) because they’d been doing it for so long it was tradition, b) because they felt a child less likely to fall if they were trained young, and after centuries of war that was a HUGE fear, and c) a lot of untrained children didn’t know how to handle their abilities.

This was probably the biggest reason parents handed over their kids, apart from the honour of having a Jedi kid, or economic pressures. It was understood that, while some Force-Sensitive children did quite well untrained, many others didn’t know how to handle it. They had visions they couldn’t understand. Feelings they couldn’t make sense of. They were often ostracized for being different and “weird.” They were often the victims of bullying, and suicide rates amongst untrained young Force sensitives were higher than in their non-sensitive peers. These statistics are what were told to the parents and it was believed to be for the child’s own good. Moreover, it was a huge honour to be able to give them to the Republic for elite and specialized service.

You can take it or leave it, but that was likely the only information available to Republic citizens when confronted with keeping or giving up a Forceful child, and it had become culturally expected.


End file.
